#backlash cop

the 80’s were a void

a fucking wasteland

without merit

except for four

things: hagler, duran,

hearns and sugar ray leonard.

  while the greedy new romans

were inverting their brains

by sucking upwards through

their noses

something

of a renaissance was happening

in the world of boxing,

to be more precise,

in the world of

middleweight boxing.

  these four absolutely immovable

men stood toe to toe

and fought it out for the

championship of the world

over and over again.

  hagler: supper fit, destructive,

taught and mechanical, a perfect boxing machine, sad.

  duran: the bull, steel-hard, unforgiving, romantic, a john steinback novel.

  hearns: stupid, maverick, talented, like chuck berry he was seedy.

  sugar ray: graceful, fast, light, contemporary, smart,

an angel, i bet he voted for reagan.

  hagler beat everyone but leonard and then he retired.

  hearns beat duran, lost to hagler, lost and then drew with leonard.

  duran beat leonard but then lost two rematches.

  sugar ray, he beat them all in the end

and it humbled us and the ringside stars

watching him do it.

  it was something to see.

Backlash Cop - Jetplane Landing